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Girls 1,600 and 3,200 relay teams win State

Posted 5/27/09 (Wed)

By Neal A. Shipman
Farmer Editor

Watford City’s relay teams turned in outstanding performances at the State Track and Field Meet in Bismarck last Friday and Saturday as the girls 1,600 and 3,200 meter relay teams captured first place finishes for the Wolves, while the girls 800 meter relay team took third place. In the boys division, Watford City’s 3,200 meter relay team took second place while the boys 1,600 meter relay team took fourth place.
The Watford City girls 800 and 1,600 relay teams also shattered two school records during the State Track Meet. This year’s 800 meter relay team consisting of Olivia Sundeen, Sibee Jokela, Kade Ross and Kara Johnsrud turned in a time of 1:46.84 besting the former W.C.H.S. school record set in 1978 by the team of Debbie Sax, Robin Snyder, Rita Johnson and Tammy Fox, who ran the event in a time of 1:47.3. Also setting a new school record was the 1,600 meter relay team consisting of Marti Quale, Sibee Jokela, Kade Ross and Kara Johnsrud whose time of 4:04.08 bettered the former W.C.H.S. record of 4:07.94 set in 2006 by Sibee Jokela, Samantha Johnson, Kara Johnsrud and Christine Bruins.
McKayla Haugeberg also set a new school record in the pole vault with a vault of 8’6” which bettered the 2008 W.C.H.S. record of 8’0” which was held by Haugeberg and Dani Bates.
Also setting a new school record for Watford City was Casey Jore in the 1,600 meter run with a time of 4:30.26. The former W.C.H.S. record in the 1,600 was set by Kirk Hatel in 1994 when he ran the race in 4:31.0.
At this year’s State Track Meet, the Watford City girls team finished in sixth place with a team total of 40 points, while the boys team finished in 16th place with 18 points.
“The whole weekend was a great weekend,” stated Greg Brown, girls head coach. “Every year it is a coaches’ hope to place in the top five and this year we just missed the top five by two points. However, I don’t believe we could have ran any better. Our athletes were setting their personal best times all weekend long. I could not be any prouder of the girls and how hard they ran this whole season. This year they came to practice on the first day wanting to become faster and gain endurance, and we definitely achieved that goal this year.”
The Watford City girls team was looking for their lone senior, Kara Johnsrud, to be the team’s leader all season long and at State, she delivered as she placed third in the 400 meter dash with a time of 1:00.26 and ran on the team’s 800, 1,600 and 3,200 meter relay teams.
Also placing for the Wolves girls team was Stephanie Deutsch with an eighth place finish in the 800 meter run and a seventh place finish in the 1,600 meter run; Sibee Jokela with a sixth place finish in the 1,600 meter run; and Marti Quale with eighth place finishes in the 100 and 300 meter hurdles.
In the boys division, individually Casey Jore was fifth in the 1,600 meter run and Tyler Flatland was eighth in the 300 meter hurdles.